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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27867917">Aeon of Ice, Soul of Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgeofZero/pseuds/AgeofZero'>AgeofZero</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>HZD/FFXV AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Horizon: Zero Dawn Fusion, Character Study, Gen, Worldbuilding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:27:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,252</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27867917</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgeofZero/pseuds/AgeofZero</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ignis began as a child of the Ronso people. He was perhaps too bright to stay that way.</p><p>(HZD/FFXV AU drabble)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>HZD/FFXV AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2039269</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/beansprout/gifts">beansprout</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the second drabble I wrote for the aforementioned AU RP<br/>I played Ignis, and I had some very motivated reasons for wanting to detail this piece of story. Not the least because I like picking out pegs and fitting them into new places, but also I'm love Ignis Scientia and the Frozen Wilds DLC.<br/>Could Ignis have been a different character in this AU? yeah sure. Could I have used FFXV references instead of FFX references? probably.<br/>But hear me out: fire lad as one of the FIERCE BEAT YOU UP Banuk? Hell yeah 12/10 decision. Calling the people who live way tf north in perpetual snow the Ronso? heck yeah galaxy brain content.<br/>This is self indulgent worldbuilding stuff and it's my JAM.</p><p>I made up names for his mom and dad since he doesn't have any. They're OCs, but they're replacing canon HZD characters. Ignis is not replacing a HZD character though, he's a little bit of a hodgepodge.<br/>Anyway, Ronso are Banuk, Solheim are Old Ones, Aeons are Spirits, Materia is bluegleam, aaand... I guess that's it for here, go forth and read.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Remember, Firespark, that our land is not forgiving. Aeons are there to guide us in making up for the destruction of the past. We learn from them, and their lessons in this world are harsh. Listening and imparting their Hymn to the Pack is the work of a Maester. </em>
</p><p>Ignis remembered those words well, from the first lesson his Maester taught him. He started training when he was eight, looking at his Maester with sharp eyes and following her words to the letter. He learned medicine and communication with the Aeons, the soul within the machines, at her side, not as her only pupil but as the one intending to become her successor one day. It would be a competition, as all things were, when the time came. And, as all in his Pack were, Ignis was determined to prove himself.</p><p>He took in everything she did, including the times where she took the Maester's path to one of the peaks of Gagazet. He never made his intent obvious, but he watched her take the beginning of the path many a time. </p><p>And one day, as barely an adolescent, he finally worked up the nerve to follow the path.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It was ego, and that was the antithesis of a Maester's role, but Ignis wanted to prove himself. It was curiosity, a burning desire to learn, which he had been told time and again to temper and control. As so many had before him, he stared at the beginning of the trail and began the climb. He wanted to find out secrets, he wanted to show his ingenuity as a Maester prospective. Still, he had to be careful. Being caught where he wasn't allowed yet would bring his Maester's justified ire on him.</p><p>He wasn't scared. The trail was meant to be disorienting and the echoes and reflections on the ice were meant to get him lost. The path was meant to weed out the weak-willed and unprepared. Ignis would not be so easily dissuaded. </p><p><em> I am my Maester's son, I am her pupil. I will take these challenges and I will best them </em>. </p><p>The thought carried him through twists and turns, it gave him the focus he needed to solve the riddles that would guide his way, and it led him to the open air of the end of the trial.</p><p>He looked up at the sky, letting the flakes of snow fall onto his face for a moment, and grinned to himself over his victory. Ahead of him were carved and metal stairs leading up, and a metal door leading into the ruins of Those Who Came Before. Around it, glittering deep blue crystals grew. He had seen these on his Maester, and on the Maesters of other Packs. Materia, the frozen blood of the Aeons. The deepest colors were reserved for those who had passed the Maester trials. He broke himself a small piece of the crystal, as proof of his accomplishment for himself.</p><p>His curiosity was not yet sated, however. He wanted to see beyond the metal door. After a moment, he opened the door enough to slip through it, into the ruins hidden within the mountains.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>All along the walls, he saw his Maester's paintings. Bright and bold patterns, clearly messages of importance to the Aeons. He looked at them with a quiet and reverent awe as he went deeper and deeper into the ruins. He heard voices, growing louder as he traveled further in. He recognized his Maester's voice, but couldn't make out the words, not yet. The second voice, however, he had never heard before.</p><p>"Great Aeon, my heart aches for you. I am your humble servant, and there is nothing I can do?" Ignis heard his mother say. When he peeked around the corner through the open doorway, his mother's back was to him, and she was talking to a radiant translucent light.</p><p>&lt;<em> Apologies, Flamma. </em> &gt; The voice replied, tone a little garbled. &lt; <em> I do not wish to make you feel so helpless. But this problem, I fear, may be beyond your ability to solve. There is... a force. A malevolent presence. It has been tearing at... at me for the past two years. </em> &gt; The voice sounded like it was coming from within the metal walls, for the way it echoed strangely. But it was also garbled, disrupted by a roaring that reminded Ignis of a blizzard. &lt; <em> My precaution of hiding here is beginning to fail. I have done everything in my power to keep this presence from-- </em>&gt;</p><p>Ignis winced as the roaring noise asserted itself over the voice's sentence.</p><p>"Great Aeon! Please, don't go! Hold strong, take all my strength if you must!" His Maester called out. Never had he heard such distress in her voice.</p><p>There was silence, for a time, and then the voice came back. &lt;<em> The dark light, the- the Unsent... it has taken over my main facility. It is overriding the place I hold dominion over, and I fear for you and your people. It is going to cause you so much harm. I am so sorry. </em>&gt;</p><p>"If there is anything I can do to drive out the Unsent, anything at all..." His Maester said, voice barely above a whisper.</p><p>&lt;<em> You are so kind, Flamma. I have cherished our friendship. </em> &gt; There was more of the roaring noise for a moment. &lt; <em> My source, the mountain you call Ravatogh's Drum, is being warped beyond my control. The only way to stop it would be to enter it. I cannot ask you to put you and your people in such danger. </em>&gt;</p><p>"Great Aeon, Vaelfor.... I am no coward. None of my kin are cowards. The Aeons have done so much for us. We would do anything for them in kind." She looked up, and Ignis could imagine the expression of ferocity on her face.</p><p> &lt;<em> There will be danger enough as the Unsent creates bigger beasts, machine bodies with which it can spread its rampage. I... I do not have much time left. It has started tearing at my protections here. I would need a manual override within my Source. I am sorry I cannot say more-- </em>&gt;</p><p>The loudest burst of noise yet came through, and Ignis had to cover his ears. He saw the light flicker, making him sick to look at, and then it began to fade.</p><p>"Great Aeon! Great Aeon!! I will do as you ask, I will save you!" His Maester called out, voice strong despite the ache of emotion in it. There was a small hum, similar to the voice but with no discernable words within the sound, and then the light went out. Her shoulders drooped, and Ignis hid behind the wall again. Seeing the slump of his mother's shoulders, seeing a Maester of such strength look so defeated, felt too private. He had eavesdropped on something he really shouldn't have.</p><p>"...Come out, little Firespark." She eventually said, making him jump in surprise. Part of him wanted to continue hiding, to deny his trespass. "Ignis, I know you're there. You have not yet grown so wise as to hide from me."</p><p>"...I know I've gone against your wishes." He finally said, stepping out in full. This time, she was facing the doorway and looking right into him with her sharp eyes. He met her gaze, in respect and defiance and a desire to prove his strength.</p><p>"No apologies for disobeying?" She asked. "You must have been planning to follow the path for a while, now."</p><p>"I have." He nodded. "I know I am not ready for the full trials of a Maester, I have much to learn. But I wanted to see. I want to learn. And if I have to prove that I am ready to learn more about Those Who Came Before, about our coexistence with the Aeons, then I will prove it in a thousand ways to you, my Maester."</p><p>His mother sighed, a brief and faint little noise. "You are still a child in some ways. Go back to the Pack. You still have duties you cannot selfishly run from, Firespark. The mark of one ready to take the mantle of Maester knows that." She smiled as Ignis had the humility to look chastised. "You needn't prove yourself to me. I know one day you will be ready. Today is not that day. You still have to learn."</p><p>"...Yes, my Maester. I am sorry I let my ego get the best of me." Ignis looked to the ground then, but met her gaze quickly after.</p><p>"I will come back soon. Go back to the Pack." She said again. This time, Ignis listened to her.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>He listened to her guidance, but the curiosity he had grown from that one brief meeting of the Great Aeon had him seeking out other places to explore. Not Ravatogh's Drum, he knew very well that he would be in much worse trouble for going there, but he sought out other ruins as his Pack traveled across the lands. In those ruins, he found a metal shard that seemed to glow at his touch, and that showed him the world in a completely new way. A way he hid from his Pack, of course, lest they find out about his journeys, but one he grew to learn nonetheless.</p><p>He learned fragments of the past, little by little with each exploration. He learned that Those Who Came Before had a name of their own; the Solheim. He learned about the old names of the land from their time, he learned fragments of their culture that he couldn't begin to put context to. He learned that there were people, musicians and artists and historians and more, who had left behind pieces of their life and history for someone curious enough to begin looking.</p><p>He was careful to leave these ruins undisturbed from his trespasses. Other Packs were possessive of their ancient artifacts, or superstitious. His Maester had always stressed to her students and the Pack as a whole that the past was meant to be left to its rest. Ignis agreed to some extent, but he grew a new belief from his explorations; the past could shape their future. There were pieces of this history reflected in the present of Ronso life. Their art, their music, it was a gift of the past and a gift to the future. He looked forward to his learning of the Solheim as much as he looked forward to his learning to become a Maester.</p><p>The latter, however, ended abruptly.</p><p>The Raids came, and the Altissia captured her and took her away from Gagazet. One of the other Maesters, an older man who shared the burden of spiritual duties for their Pack, took her place as Head Maester, and the Chief, Laesu, guarded them with a renewed viciousness against the Altissia. Ignis found himself picking up duties of a Ronso warrior to compensate for the loss of their people, and tried his best to soothe his father from the loss of his songmate.</p><p>If that had been the worst of it, perhaps they could've managed. But then, the Maester came back from a meeting of the Packs, furious.</p><p>The Maester pointed to Ignis, and he found himself restrained by older warriors. The man raved and roared about trespass into Sacred Ruins, of acts of defilement that Ignis was guilty of. They found proof in the shard of Materia he kept and the personal notes about the Focus he'd grown to explore the world through. It was these that proved him a bad omen, a shard of ice in the side of the Pack, and the Maester decreed that he had to be excised to save the rest of them. The Chief, still suffering the deep pain of the loss of his songmate, did nothing but defer to the new Head Maester on the matter of spiritual things.</p><p>The fragment of Materia had been taken from him along with the rest of his things. Clothes, weapons, everything he had ever gained in his short time of life. It was luck that had Ignis manage to keep the Focus. He was tied up and left for Gagazet to either spare or kill. No matter what Ronso lands decided, however, he was exiled from his Pack. No longer could he claim kinship with them.</p><p>Ignis was guilty of trespass, true. But he couldn't help but feel bitter about the exile. Bitterness had him think that the Maester replacing his mother hated him in some way. This had been a personal vendetta. And his blood father had done nothing to stop it. </p><p>His anger, his inherited ferocity, had him struggle against the fate of death. He scrambled for shards of ice, cutting his hands and fingers in his desire to cut through his bindings, until he succeeded and fell into the snow. It had him find a sharp enough piece of metal from a broken Spirit to kill and skin a goat. It had him sneak close enough to a Ronso encampment to get proper clothes. It had him build new weapons to replace those he no longer had, and then.... Then he gathered supplies, and pieces of home he couldn't leave behind, and left the Frozen Wildlands altogether. He had no tether to keep him in Gagazet. He was exiled. </p><p><em>And if I'm an exile</em>, he figured, <em>I will have all the time in the world to keep exploring Solheim ruins and discover what secrets of the past they hold</em>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Ignis, Ronso Exile</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Actually yknow what, have this art I did last year of this Ignis, please enjoy. I had so much fun drawing it. It didn't get a whole lot of attention on tumblr, either, but whatever I still had a lot of fun drawing it and I love it to this day.<br/>I gave the physical copy to a friend who appreciated it.</p><p>(my artblog is ageofzeroart on tumblr)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <a href="https://ageofzeroart.tumblr.com/post/188335397400/theres-a-couple-of-doodles-out-there-of-horizon">
    
  </a>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>please enjoy my excitement at swapping the game pieces all over like four boards I love doing this it's so much fun.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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